Breathe Me In
by SpobyMakesFlan
Summary: After Aria's break up with her girlfriend, she shows up at Emily's house, and the real reason for the break up is revealed. AxE


_EmilyAria Fiction—_there's too little of these girls! So EmxAr is a pairing that I'm going to try. Both of them are openly gay here. Kind of AU. Aria and Jenna were originally a couple (read to understand).

* * *

There's loud and unsteady knocks at the Fields house's door. The slender swimmer puts her homework away and jogs downstairs to open the door. And she's there. She looks broken. She looks hurt. And it kills Emily to see someone she cares about so hurt. The girl's hazel eyes make her look like a lost puppy. Emily doesn't even need her to justify why she's upset just yet. She closes the door behind them and pulls the much shorter girl close to give her a hug.

"Why are you crying?" she finally asks, her hands rubbing gently through Aria Montgomery's silky hair. "I'm here for you, Ar, I'm here for you. So just tell me what's going on, and I'll do whatever I can to help you feel better."

The short girl mumbles, "I feel so confused. I... I broke up with Jenna."

"What? Why?" Emily asks nervously. She knows she's happy about it. Not happy to see her upset, but happy because Aria's finally single again. "She always treated you so well. What changed, Aria?"

"Well, at first, I was planning on breaking up with her because I don't think she really is fully into me. I saw her spying on Toby when he and Spencer were... you know," she mumbles. "It freaked me out. I thought that if she had it in her to spy on my best friend and her own step brother, she's obviously not as into me as I'm into her."

"That's perfectly logical, so why are you confused?" Emily asks. "I know it probably hurts to lose someone you love, but you had the right to break up with her. She did something creepy." She notices the shaken look on Aria's face.

"That's because I _don't_ love her," Aria whispers. "I figured it out while I was driving from Jenna's house after I broke up with her. I don't know why, but I came here. Actually, I do know why I came here. I came here because you're always the one who is reasonable. Hanna would make jokes, and Spencer would lecture me. But that's not it. I mostly came here because..."

"Because what, Aria?" she asks softly.

"Because I love you," Aria mumbles.

"Well of course I love you," Emily says with a smile. "All three of us love you. We're like the best of frien—"

"No Emily, don't you get it?" Aria is on the verge of tears as she says this. "I don't love you as a fried, I... I just love you for real!"

Emily can barely handle this. Shivers are running down her spine. Did Aria really just say that? There's a dead silence, and both the girls can hear the faint sound of the raindrops hitting the floor outside. Emily swallows hard, watching the rain hit her window. Her breathing is unsteady. Aria looks ashamed. She looks away, embarrassed that she just revealed something so unlikely and peculiar.

"Ar," she mumbles, her bottom lip trembling as she steps closer to the hazel eyed beauty.

She's a lot of risks, so she decides that one more risk couldn't kill her. With that, Aria steps forward, even closer, and presses her lips to Emily's. Her hands cup the girl's cheeks. She sucks on the swimmer's bottom lip. Emily kisses back, her chocolate eyes shutting as she learns to shut up and just enjoy the amazing reward she's getting. Kissing Aria Montgomery has been a fantasy for her. With Jenna in the way, she never thought that fantasy would become a reality.

Feeling powered, since one of her risks actually turned out successful, Aria practically oversteps her boundaries and drags her hands down from Emily's cheeks to the hem of her shirt. She starts to pull it off of the swimmer's fit body, but she backs up. Aria feels rejected. She feels hurt. Did the kiss not mean anything?

"Aria," she says quietly, her eyes fluttering slightly. "Don't."

"You don't love me back," Aria whispers. "I get it. You don't want to... because you don't love me back. You still love Maya, don't you?"

Emily trembles as she speaks, "No, Aria. That's not true. I don't love her anymore."

"Then why were you okay with sleeping with her?" Aria asks, the hurt overflowing in her voice. "Am I not good enough?"

"Aria," she warns. "You are plenty good enough, and saying I don't love you back is a lie, because I do."

"Then why won't you?" Aria demands, still hurt.

"Because!" Emily cries. "Because you're not ready for this, and I know you're not. I don't know if you've slept with anyone before, but that's not what I care about. What I care about is that you are rebounding on me."

"What I feel for you is entirely real, Emily!" Aria yells. "You don't believe that I'm being sincere? You think I'm pretending to love you just because I'm upset about my break up with Jenna? Well news flash, I broke up with her for you! This is real to me!"

"I'm not saying it isn't real," Emily says, cupping her cheeks again. "And I love you. I never thought you would love me back, anyways. But... that's not what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to say is that you need some time. And love doesn't mean sex. We don't have to do anything. There are other ways for me to show you how much I love you."

Aria's eyes look up to the swimmer's, desiring nothing but her love. Emily wraps her arms around the tiny girl's body, pressing kisses down her neck.

"I do love you," Emily says. "Not Maya, not Paige. Just you, Aria. Just you."

Aria's breathing gets heavier. She leans in closer, and their lips meet again. The kiss is soft and sweet, yet so passionate. A passion she never felt with Jenna.

"I love you," Aria mumbles into the kiss.

"I love you, too," Emily whispers.


End file.
